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AN ACCOUNT 



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Centennial Celebration 



At Princeton, N. 



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.OMPU.ED BY REQUEST, 



Rev. WILLIAM C. ULYAT. 






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FKINCETON : 
The Press Printing Oppick. 

1877. 






AN ACCOUNT 



Centennial Celebration 



At Princeton, N. J. 



JVNJE 27tn, 1876. 



COMPILED P>Y REQUEST, 



Rev. WILLIAM C. ULYAT, 



PRINCETON : 
The Press Printing Office. 

1877- 








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Centennial Celebration 

AT PRINCETON. 



WARRANT FOR SUCH A CELEBRATION. 

So many distinguished citizens of Princeton, and so many former 
students of the College, having taken a prominent part in the Revo- 
lution of 1776; and the battle fought here during that period hav- 
ing been one of no inconsiderable influence on the destinies of our 
country, it seemed to our citizens eminently appropriate that we, 
who were in the enjoyment of the blessings our ancestors' self- 
sacrifices had helped to procure, should, after the lapse of a century, 
when time had established, and history had recognized, the splendor 
and beneficence of their action, review our privileges and com- 
memorate in some way these men and their deeds. As far as pos- 
sible, therefore, it was ordered, through a Centennial Celebration, 
that of the men of that trying period whose deeds had been so 
powerful a lever to lift our country into magnitude and well-being, 
there should be no forgotten graves, no dim vision of the patriotic 
good will which they had shown. 

And as, in all ages and by all people, to awaken the dormant 
feeling of patriotism and kindle anew the fires of devotion to 
country has been esteemed a solemn duty, into this same line of 
thought and channel of action we seemed to be thrust, and shut up 
to the belief, that no more honorable work could be pursued than to 
approach with reverence and gratitude those altars of the past, and 
there do obeisance. 

It were impossible, at this late day, to enumerate the names even, 
much less the deeds, of greater or lesser heroism, of all those of 
Princeton who took part in the Revolutionary struggle. Families 
do not generally perpetuate the exploits of their ancestors. Nor do 
communities, except in very striking instances. The dangers and 



sufferings undergone by the common soldier on the tented, perhaps 
untented field, on the march, and on the scene of carnage ; of the 
officer of high birth, wealth, luxury, and social position ; of the 
women at home toiling and agonizing, and of the children capable 
of appreciating the exposure and sacrifice of fathers and brothers, 
lover and friend, lie very much in the world's unwritten history. 
It would not be our object, however, here to rehabilitate these, even 
were it possible, nor even to mention, in any detail, men and deeds 
which have been rescued from the jaws of oblivious time, but only 
to give a few names and a brief outline, as a warrant for the com- 
memoration that was held. Further mention of these will occur in 
the progress of this narrative. While for a full exhibit, reference 
must be had to the larger and more complete histories of those 
times. 

In proposing a celebration our citizens felt that there were two 
Princeton men whose names were worthy of the first and of tend- 
erest remembrance. As members of the Provincial Congress, and 
afterwards as members of the Continental Congress, these men 
exposed their property to confiscation, their families to penury, and 
their lives to the hangman. One was John Witherspoon, a Scotch- 
man by birth. President of the College, a philosopher, divine, and 
learned man, whose mortal remains are with us in our cemetery. 
He sat in both the local and general Congresses. And under the 
immortal instrument of the Declaration, forerunner and assurer of 
our liberties, stands his name. The other was Richard Stockton, a 
native Princetonian, a large land-holder, graduate of the College, a 
lawyer, a gentleman of the olden time, a Christian elder of the 
First Presbyterian Church, whose mortal remains lie in the Quaker 
burying ground. He, too, was a signer. 

There were, likewise, graduates of the College, men who had 
their residence here for a while, who imbibed the spirit of patriots, 
who did good service in the general cause both here and elsewhere, 
whose names were felt to be worthy of honorable mention and lov- 
ing remembrance. There was, for example, Benjamin Rush, son- 
in-law of Mr. Stockton, a surgeon in the army, and afterwards an 
eminent professor and practitioner in Philadelphia. There was 
Joseph Reed, who was guide to Washington at the Battle of Prince- 
ton. He was an Adjutant General in the army, and besides being 
a graduate of Princeton, had studied law here under Mr. Stockton. 
There, too, was Jonathan Dickinson Sergeant, a grandson of Jona- 



than Dickinson, first President of the College, and himself a lawyer in 
Princeton. Besides these were others alike worthy of remembrance. 

The undergraduates, also, of the College, during the war, who 
partook of the spirit of their honored President, Dr. Witherspoon ; 
the patriotic citizens of Princeton of that day ; the uses made of 
our town by both armies and by public bodies ; and above all, the 
battle of January 3d, 1777, planned and executed with so much 
skill and bravery that it became, ?as has often been said, and is 
generally admitted, the turning point of a war which secured our 
present civil liberties; all these, it was felt, demanded of us careful, 
joyous and grateful remembrance, to show ourselves worthy of our 
inheritance, and to animate us to still nobler endeavor. 

These are our apology, if any is needed, for the celebration which 
was had ; and a simple narrative of which is the object of these brief 
memoirs. 

PREPARATIONS FOR THE CELEBRATION. 

The credit of the initiation of the celebration, is due to the late 
James M. Macdonald, D. D., son of a General in the war of 1S12, 
and for nearly a quarter of a century pastor of the First Presbyterian 
Church in Princeton. Both by descent and in name, — for he was 
named after one of our Presidents, James Madison, himself a gradu- 
ate of Princeton, — he was an American patriot. In public and in 
private, and on committees, and with the authorities of the College, 
and the Seminary, and with his townsmen, he was indefatigable in 
his labors to inaugurate the celebration. He lived to see it assured, 
but only so far. For ere its consummation he was numbered with 
the dead whom he would honor. Others, however, lived to carry on 
what he had begun. 

The first public step towards a realization of the project was taken 
by the Common Council of the borough. At their regular monthly 
meeting, in January, 1876, in response to a petition presented by 
Dr. Macdonald, and seconded with a speech by Hon. Geo. O. Van- 
\derbilt, who intimated that the State itself might be inclined to aid 
with funds and take other part in the matter, they authorized the 
Mayor to call a mass meeting of citizens who should give expression 
to their views as to whether such a celebration should be had, and if 
so when, and how far they would sustain it. 

On January 15th, the contemplated meeting of citizens was held, 
in Cook's Hall, at which the Mayor presided. Speeches were made 
by Dr. Macdonald, Professor H. C. Cameron, Hon. John F. Hage- 



man Hon. Geo. O. Vanderbilt and others. These questions were 
especially agitated, whether the celebration should take place in 
June following, near the time of the birth both of the State and of 
the Nation, or in January ensuing, on the anniversary of the battle ; 
also, whether an attempt should be made to make it a State affair. 
It was decided that it should take in more than the battle, and that 
the State should be invited to participate, and that the celebration 
should be in June. At the close of the debate the following pre- 
amble and resolution which had been offered by Mr. Hageman, were 
passed : 

Whereas, in the opinion of this meeting, it is eminently proper and 
desirable that the Centennial Anniversary of our National Inde- 
pendence should be celebrated in Princeton, around which cluster 
many thrilling historic events and immortalized names, calculated 
to_ inspire the highest enthusiasm in such an object — a place whose 
central position and whose eminent citizens, then residing here, 
have made it a controlling power in the politics of New Jersey in 
the Revolutionary period, and whose representatives in both the 
Provincial and Continental Congresses, and in Committees and 
Constitutional Conventions, were pre-eminently distinguished and 
efficient, two of them signing the Declaration of Independence ; 
the place where the Council of Safety held many if not most of 
their sessions, where the State government, under the Republican 
Constitution, adopted July 2d, 1776, was organized under Gov- 
ernor Livingston, and held its first session, passing important laws 
and giving to the State its Broad Seal ; the place where the first 
victorious battle of the Revolution was fought under General Wash- 
ington in an open field contest, in which he routed the enemy, 
turning back the tide of war which had been checked at Trenton, 
and giving heart and hope to the country ; the place where both 
armies were successively quartered upon our people, occupying 
our college and church for barracks and stables, and preying upon 
our farmers ; the place where, just before the close of the war, the 
Continental Congress and Government sat and held sessions in the 
College library, with Washington in attendance ; and whereas, it is 
represented that our State contemplates holding a State celebration, 
and we wish respectfully to suggest whether any place is more cen- 
tral and better adapted than Princeton to unite the civil, the 
religious, the academic and the military elements of the people, all 
of which should be blended in such a celebration ; therefore. 
Resolved, That a Committee of Thirteen be appointed by the chair- 
man, Mayor of the borough, to designate the day and make arrange- 
ments for such celebration, endeavoring first to secure the co-operation 



of the Common Council, and of the faculties of our institutions ; and 
that before making definite arrangements, they shall cordially invite 
the Governor and Legislature of New Jersey to join with us and make 
it a State celebration worthy of the occasion. 

The following Committee of Thirteen was thereupon appointed 
by the Mayor : 

Hon. John F. Hageman, Chairman, Rev. Jas. M. Macdonald, D. D., 
Hon. Geo. O. Vanderbilt, Leavitt Howe, 

Leroy H. Anderson, Esq., Wm. C. Vandewater, 

Capt. Aaron L. Green, Capt. Wm. V. Scudder, 

Richard Runyan, Thomas A. Seger, 

Josiah W. Wright, J. Gordon Vandyke, 

Lyman S. Atwater. 

This Committee, soon after their appointment, commenced the 
work assigned them, choosing at their first meeting an Advisory 
Committee from gentlemen of the town, of which the following 
were members : 

Mayor Francis S. Conover, Prof. Lyman H. Atwater, D. D., 

Prof. Henry C. Cameron, D. D., Prof. John S. Schanck, LL. D., 
Prof. W. Henry Green, D. D., Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., 
Rev. William C. Ulyat, Elisha Clarke, 

' Henry E. Hale. 

As needed, the following Sub-Committees were appointed : 

1. To prepare a plan for a Celebration^Rev. James M. Mac- 
donald, D. D., Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, Rev. George Sheldon, 
D. D., Mayor Francis S. Conover, William C. Vandewater. 

2. To confer with the Borough Council — Richard Runyan, 
Josiah W. Wright, William C. Vandewater. 

3. To confer with the Faculties of the College and Seiaiinary — 
Rev. James M. Macdonald, D. D. 

4. To confer with the State Authorities and the Executive Com- 
mittee of the New Jersey Historical Societj^ — Hon. John F. Hage- 
man, Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, William C. Vandewater. 

5. On Ways and Means — Richard Runyan, Josiah W. Wright, 
William C. Vandewater. 

6. To lay a bill before the Legislature to legalize Taxation to 
defray the expenses of the Celebration — Mayor Francis S. Conover, 
Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., Hon. George O. Vanderbilt, Leroy 
H. Anderson, Esq., Rev. William Harris. 



7- On Correspondence and Invitations — Mayor Francis S. Cono- 
ver, Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., Rev. Lyman H. Atwater, D. D., 
Prof. Henry C. Cameron, Hon. George O. Vanderbilt. 

8. To select a place for the Exercises and provide a Tent — Rev. 
William Harris, Josiah W. Wright, Thomas A. Seger, Leavitt Howe, 
Joseph Priest. 

9. On Music — Richard Runyan, William C. Vandewater, Alex- 
ander Gray, Esq., John J. Stryker. 

10. On Odes and Songs — John F. Hageman, Jr., Esq., William 
J, Gibby, Rev. William C. Ulyat, Augustus Macdonald, Lieut. 
George T. P^mmons, U. S. N., Leroy H. Anderson, Esq. 

11. On Public Decorations — Ernst Sandoz, Joseph S. Schanck, 
Bayard Stockton, Cornelius A. Terhune, Charles S. Robinson. 

12. To designate and mark Historic places — Charles O. Hudnut, 
Elisha Clarke, James L. Briner, John Murphy, William L. Hankins. 

13. To have charge of the firing of Guns and ringing of Bells — 
Capt. Aaron L. Green, James Leggett, John H. Margerum, Capt, 
William V. Scudder, E. Carpenter. 

14. On a Collation — Edward Howe, Josiah W. Wright, Joseph 
H, Bruere, Capt. William V. Scudder. 

15. On a monument to General Mercer — Capt. William V. Scud- 
der, Thomas A. Seger, J. Gordon Vandyke. 

16. To provide an Orator — Rev. James M. Macdonald, D. D,, 
Rev. George Sheldon, D. D. 

17. To act as an Executive Committee — Rev. Henry C. Cameron, 
D. D., William C. Vandewater, Josiah W. Wright, Joseph S. Schanck, 
Edward Howe, Hon. George O. Vanderbilt. 

18. To publish a history of the Celebration — Prof. Henry C. 
Cameron., D. D., Hon. Geo. O. Vanderbilt, Rev. William C. Ulyat. 

In the midst of these preparations, Dr. Macdonald, who had 
hitherto been a leader, was unexpectedly called from us by death. 
At the first meeting after his death, the following minute was offered 
which was unanimously adopted : 

With deep sorrow the Centennial Committee record the death of their 
associate, thd Rev. James M. Macdonald, D. D., which occurred in 
Princeton on the 19th ult. In an eminent sense, Dr. Macdonald was a 
Christian gentleman and patriot. Descended from a distinguished 
Revolutionary ancestry, and as a minister of religion occupying the 
place of one who signed the Declaration of Independence, he was 
keenly alive to the elevated and noble spirit which should mark and 



pervade our National Centennial. The suggestion of our proposed 
celebration, it is believed, originated with him. In all the measures in 
view of it, he bore the leading part. We greatly miss him. He died 
honored, beloved, lamented. 

Dr. Macdonald having taken so large an interest in the celebration 
had been appointed to preside on the occasion, and to deliver the 
Address of Welcome. After his decease, Governor Bedle was 
appointed to preside and Dr. Sheldon to deliver the Address. 

The committee charged with designating and marking historic 
places denoted, Morven, the residence of Mr. Stockton, which had 
been the headquarters of Cornwallis, Tusculum, the residence of Dr. 
Witherspoon, the graves of these men in their respective cemeteries, 
the battle field, and especially the spot where Mercer was bayoneted 
and the room where he died, the Church and the College building — 
Nassau Hall, which were used for barracks by the Revolutionary 
soldiers of both parties, and the room where Congress and other 
public bodies held sessions. 

It was intended that the celebration should be not merely a local 
but a State one. Accordingly, the Committee on Correspondence 
and Invitations sent out invitations to the President of the United 
States and his Cabinet, to the General of the Army, William T. 
Sherman, to the Senators and Representatives of New Jersey in 
Congress, to the Governor of New Jersey and other officers of the 
State, to the ex-Governors living, to both houses of the Legislature, 
to the Judiciary, to the Historical Society of the State, to Rutgers 
College and Seminary, to the Washington Headquarters Association 
at Morristown, and to the Society of the Cincinnati. The letters 
of invitation, besides the letter press, contained engravings of the 
coat-of-arms of the State, a battle scene, Nassau Hall, and a fac- 
simile of the old Liberty Bell of 1776, in Independence Hall. 

The Committee on Ways and Means reported Taxation as the 
only feasible way of securing funds to defray the necessary expenses 
— that the people of the Borough be asked to vote money for the 
purpose to the amount of $1,500, at the Spring election ; and that 
the Legislature be asked to legalize the tax. The people did vote, 
when the time came, the asked for sum, by a handsome majority ; 
and the Legislature gave authority to the Council to impose the tax. 

The committees to confer with the faculties of the College and 
Seminary, the Borough Council, the State authorities, and the New 
Jersey Historical Society, were all successful in securing their desired 



co-operation. From the College authorities was obtained the per- 
mission to use their grounds, from the Council an order for a tax 
and a provision for special police to serve on the occasion, from the 
State authorities a legal enactment authorizing taxation, a promise 
of their presence, and of a large detachment of Military at the ex- 
pense of the State Government. The Historical Society commend- 
ed the movement. 

In executing all the preparatory work for the celebration, in which 
the authorities, both of the Town and the College united, a large 
amount of time was consumed by committees, travel performed, 
and correspondence conducted. This was necessary to the success of 
the undertaking ; and the citizens who served us are worthy of all 
praise. To some of them, as Mayor Conover, who advanced out of 
his private means funds until such time as the tax could be collected, 
and opened his field for the dinner tent and soldiers, and Hon. 
George O. Vanderbilt, who was especially assiduous with the Legis- 
lature, Governor, and State authorities, and Dr. Sheldon, for his 
efforts to secure an orator, and Lyman S. Atwater, Esq., who acted 
a long time as Secretary of the Committee of Thirteen, special 
votes of thanks were given. The names also of Dr. Cameron, as 
Chairman of the Executive Committee, Hon. John F. Hageman, 
Joseph S. Schank, and William C. Vandewater, deserve special 
mention. 

THE CELEBRATION. 

The day on which the celebration was to be had — Tuesday, June 
27th — dawned auspiciously. It was hot and dusty, but no rain fell. 
The Town was full of strangers, — friends of the College, many of 
whom, beside their interest in the Institutions, now had doubtless 
been attracted hither by the extra inducements offered by our Cen- 
tennial Celebration. In the course of the morning, immense 
crowds flocked in from the country round about, and came by rail- 
road from a distance. 

At sunrise a national salute of thirteen guns was fired, and the 
bells of the town were rung. 

In anticipation of the celebration a military company had been 
organized in Princeton at the beginning of the year. They styled 
themselves the Washington Continental Guards. They were hand- 
somely uniformed in Continental style, well disciplined, and on 
parade made a fine appearance. They numbered in all forty-five 
men. 



These were early on the street, and received our visiting military, 
and became their escort during the day. Their conduct generally 
was highly commendable. 

About 9 A, M. the military from abroad began to arrive. These 
consisted of two regiments, the ist from Newark, Colonel William 
Allen, numbering about 600 men, and the 7th from Trenton, Col- 
onel Angell, numbering about 400. These, at the request of the 
Committee, had been sent here by Governor Bedle, who by virtue 
of his office was Commander-in-chief of the National Guard of New 
Jersey. They went through their drill on the front Campus of the 
College, paraded the streets and were reviewed toward the close of 
the day's exercises by the Governor and his staff. Each regiment 
was accompanied by its respective band, and made a fine and 
inspiriting appearance. 

Among the distinguished visitors from abroad during the day 
were Governor Joseph D. Bedle and his Staff, Adjutant General 
Wm. S. Stryker, General J. Augustus Fay, Colonel John Vought, 
Colonel A, Q. Garretson, Colonel C. D. Hendrickson, Colonel B. 
W. Spencer, Colonel Wm. E. Hoy and Colonel G. M. Johnson. 
Besides these, of military rank, were Major General Mott, Major 
General Sewell and General Lewis Perrine, Q. M. G. 

Of the civilians present might be distinguished Ex-Governors 
Daniel Haines, Marcus L. Ward and Joel Parker, Judge L. Q. C. 
Elmer ; Senators W. J. Sewell, W. J. Magie, John Hill and Charles 
Moore ; Hon. James Chestnut, Ex-U. S. Senator ; Rev. Drs. John 
De Witt and D. D. Demarest, of Rutgers Theological Seminary ; 
General N. N. Halsted and P. S. Duryee, Esq., of Newark; John 
A. Stewart, Esq., and Rev. Cyrus Dickson, D. D., of New York; 
Rev. Dr. A. A. E. Taylor, President of Wooster University, Ohio ; 
Judge J. T. Nixon, members of the General Assembly of N. J., and 
many others. 

EXERCISES AT THE STAND ON THE COLLEGE CAMPUS. 

At noon a procession of the military and of civilians was formed 
on Nassau street, and proceeded under the order of Colonel A. M, 
Gumming, Marshal of the Day, assisted by Major A. F. Allen, to 
the place on the College grounds appointed for the delivery of an 
Address of Welcome and an Oration. The place was the South 
Campus, in the neighborhood of the historic cannon captured from 
the British in the Revolutionary war. 



After music by Petermann's Band, of Trenton, Prayer was 
offered by the Rev. James McCosh, D. D., LL. D., President of 
the College. 

Following the prayer, a choir consisting of nearly one hundred 
students of the College, led by Jno. F. Hageman, Jr., sang Whit- 
tier's Centennial Hymn. 

Rev. George Sheldon, D. D., then, by appointment of the Com- 
mittee, delivered the Address of Welcome. It was substantially 
as follows : 

address of welcome. 

The citizens of Princeton have felt they could not suffer this 
memorable year to pass without at least a feeble expression of their 
gratitude to the God of their fathers, and to their fathers themselves 
for what they have done for us. 

To put honor on the memory of those wise and brave men, and 
to pass it down to a still later posterity with undiminished reverence 
and love, they have arranged the simple ceremonial of this day. It 
is made my pleasant duty to welcome you. You know you are 
always welcome to Princeton — but much more on an occasion like 
this, whether you come from homes more or less remote, in our 
own honored State, the home of patriots and statesmen — a State 
whose soil was the battle field of the Revolution, a State that, in the 
measure of its population and means, did more in the country's 
cause than any other, or whether you come from other honored 
commonwealths of the original thirteen, or from those since carved 
out of our vast domain, and never dreamed of in the infancy of the 
Republic, but now component parts of our great and glorious 
Union, or whether, perchance, some of you are from far away and 
represent other nationalities — we welcome you. 

Princeton extends a warm welcome to the Chief Magistrate of our 
State and those associated with him in the administration of our 
affairs ; to members of both houses of the Legislature ; to the Judi- 
ciary of the State of New Jersey ; to the Trustees and other officers 
of Rutgers College and of the Theological Seminary connected with 
that venerable Institution ; to the officers and members of the 
various patriotic, literary and historical societies represented here, 
and to the brave soldiers who honor us with their escort on this 
occasion. 

We welcome you to Princeton ; to Princeton full of patriotic 
memories and associations, where the very atmosphere bears the 



13 

double inspiration of the past and the present ; to old historic 
Princeton, a hundred years ago as now, the seat of learning and 
religion — a hundred years ago, in the dark formative days of the 
Republic, the centre and source of patriotic counsel and valor. 

We are assembled on classic, sacred ground. Memorials are all 
around us. 

Near by was fought the Battle of Princeton — in an important 
sense the turning point in the great struggle for the liberty of our 
people. Here the patriots had their first inspiration of success ; here 
Washington was exposed to greater personal peril than in any sub- 
sequent combat ; here the heroic Mercer fell, and has left his life- 
blood stains on the floor of the house (now standing) into which, 
mortally wounded, he was carried. 

This is the man of whom we are told, when the House of Bur- 
gesses, in Virginia, was considering the raising and officering of a 
third regiment, a plain but soldierly-looking man sent up to the 
Speaker a scrap of paper on which was written, " Hugh Mercer will 
serve his adopted country, and the cause of liberty, in any rank or 
station to which he may be appointed." 

Our town for some weeks had been in possession of British troops, 
who converted these Halls of learning, and the very Church of God 
near by us, into barracks and stables. 

The patriot forces coming up dislodged them, but the College 
edifice was left penetrated and scarred by shot. 

Here, before the war, the Committee of Safety, and our first 
State Legislature, met, and after the war, the Continental Congress, 
in quiet scenes of peace, when Washington was present on a Com- 
mencement occasion. 

Here lived Richard Stockton, who served his country when it 
cost something to do so. His estate was ravaged and despoiled ; 
he was dragged from his bed at night and put in the common 
jail in New York, where he was treated with such barbarity as to 
hasten his death. Here, also, was Dr. John Witherspoon, President 
of the College, and pastor of the church in this town, scholar, 
patriot, divine. He fearlessly espoused the cause of his adopted 
country, and became the counsellor and guide of our people. To 
him, the great objective point was a free church in a free State. 
These two men, with John Hart, whose home was in this neighbor- 
hood, subscribed the immortal Declaration of Independence, the 



14 

principles of which were vindicated and established on this conti- 
nent through the battles of the Revolution. 

We come to honor the memory of these men, and of all those 
associated with them, from the highest in council to the humblest 
soldier and citizen. To honor them, and to trace the results that 
have for a hundred years flowed from their action, as touching free 
government, wise legislation, human liberty and human happiness, 
is the purpose of this celebration, as well as to consider by what 
means these blessings may be continued. 

" The place we tread is holy ground, 

Since that far winter morn, 
When out of storm and battle sound 

A mighty hope was born " 

At the close of this address, the large choir sang to the air '*La 
Marseillaise," the following Ode to Liberty, which had been 
specially prepared for the occasion by Rev. Charles W. Shields, D. D., 
a Professor in the College : 



O Liberty ! again thy story. 

Which oft before thy sons have told, 
The rolling cycles swell with glory. 

The story that can ne'er grow old : 
How Truth and Right have battl'd Error, 
How patriots rush jd to martyrs' graves. 
How freemen scorn'd the chains of slaves. 
And tyrants fell with rage and terror. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Take courage from the past : 

Press on ! press on ! till victory 

Shall crown thy brow at last. 

Lo ! on these western waters drifted, 
In flying bands across the main, 

A chosen race of heroes sifted, 

As from the chaff is thresh'd the grain : 

They come, the van of eastern sages; 
They bear the richest spoils of Time, 
And hail the new, imperial clime 

Adorn'd of old for riper ages. 

Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

[ing! 

Hark ! hark ! what groans and shouts are blend- 
New England calls with struggling breath! 

Virginia's tongue of flame is sending 
The cry of " Liberty or Death ! " 

While Jersey sees the war-clouds lower, 
Her face by hireling legions marr'd. 
Her dauntless brow with battles scarr'd. 

Till victory gleams on Nassau's tower. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 



Ah ! bitter, bitter and defiant 

The surges of the civic strife. 
Ere like a fuU-arm'd infant giant. 

The nation struggled into life ! 
And long, O long shall be recited. 

What glories shroud the fallen brave, 

How virtue blossoms from their grave, 
In arts increased and states united. 
Rejoice, O Liberty! 

Nor yet, O Liberty, is ended 

Thy march of glorious agony ; 
Not till all tongues and peoples blended 

At length acclaim. The world is free ! 
Not till one nation to another 

Around the globe shall roll the strain, 

The West rejoin the East again. 
And man hail every man his brother. 
Rejoice, O Liberty I 

O Liberty ! then be thy story 

Still, still with quenchless fervor told 
As rolling cycles swell its glory ; 

The story that can ne'er grow old. 
While yet the radiant face of Nature 
Is darken'd by a single slave. 
As long as Virtue claims the brave. 
And man has faith in his Creator. 
Rejoice, O Liberty ! 

Take courage from the past ; 

Press on ! press on ! till victory 

Shall crown thy brow at last ! 



15 

His Excellency, Governor Joseph D. Bedle, the Presiding 
Officer, now introduced Rev. Joseph T. Durvea, D. D., of Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., THE Orator of the Day, a graduate of the College 
and Seminary, and connected with Princeton by other ties, who 
proceeded to give a very fervent, patriotic and interesting address. 
The following outline will afford some glimpses of what Dr. Duryea 
said : 

Countrymen and Friends: — The historian at the end of each 
century looks back, and gathers up those principles which have 
been the laws giving direction to its events, and ordering our metes 
and bounds. The fulfillment of the past does not terminate with 
this. But instinct looks for some worthy fulfillment of such a period. 
We are doing this thing this year in the history of our country. 

We are not here now to review events simply, or to celebrate an 
accident. We are here to see wisdom, thought, and intention in the 
past — a divine heart and mind even. It is the divine element and 
self-sacrifice, the self immolation of the wise and good that makes 
history sacred. We are not here atheists. If there be no God, no 
wise, controling, directing intelligence in the past, let us court 
oblivion of it rather than this remembrance. Let all the past be 
engulfed forever. Let us welcome the nightfall and not the dawn. 
Man came into being by the intention of God. God wished sym- 
pathy, and to be known and loved, and all the past is full of his 
intelligence, his thought in and for us. 

The signal events and things of this world are not oceans, prairies, 
and rivers, not material wealth, agriculture, mines and oil of the 
earth, nor railroads, telegraphs, &c. We are not here to celebrate 
such. The establishment of a nationality, the multiplication of 
colonies in North America, the consolidation of these colonies into 
States, the development of national unity, the removal of the sin 
and burden of servile labor, these are the signal events in the past 
of our country. 

And what does all the past of development of our country mean ; 
what is its worth to us ? Does it mean for us coal, grain, silk, purple, 
mere material advance ? No. It is rather that we should recognize 
in these unfoldings the foundations of good for us, of our prosperity ; 
and it becomes us to-day, above all things, to swear that these bless- 
ings shall be perpetual. What claim will you have on the generation 
of a hundred years to come? what claim on their gratitude and ven- 
eration as those of a hundred years ago have on you to-day, if you 



i6 

do not conserve the good which you have inherited? If we do not 
conserve it we shall have no memorial, and the generation to come 
will curse rather than bless us. Our first duty then, the lesson which 
we are to learn from this hour is to be true to the inheritance we have 
received, to the fathers which went before and to the sons which shall 
come after us. 

We commonly labor under a misconception which is fatal to our 
well being. We believe we are in accord with truth. We have 
wills and know our freedom. We occupy each a sphere which we 
feel cannot be invaded. We further believe that government is best 
which gives the individual the greatest scope. But we make a mis- 
take when we think that such a government is necessarily self per- 
petuating. If our institutions are good we should work them. 
This we have failed, through misconception, to do. A partisan 
spirit among us has been allowed such sway as to destroy individ- 
uality. We should stick to our party no longer than it represents 
principle. Let party perish when it deserts or loses principle. 
The people should destroy it. Look at the government of New 
York City. There are good men enough in that city to wipe out 
the shame that is hers, through such men as Bill Tweed and Jim 
Fisk. But wealthy men and good men stand by and let hell rule 
and the devil inspire. We are a Republican government, say they ! 
And so they let the wicked rule. After reading your Bible and 
praying, GO vote : or you read and pray to little account. 

The educated and good must teach the common people. They 
are led too much by demagogues. The people of this hemisphere 
were nearly ruined in the late war through their ignorance of the 
absolute incompatibility of two governments existing in peace 
together on this continent. God carried us through, however. 
Mothers and school teachers should teach the principles and 
methods of our government, — rear the generation that is to come 
after them in love of country. We should labor to make them as 
loyal to it as the Catholic is to his church. 

THE COLLATION AND SUCCEEDING EXERCISES. 

With the conclusion of Dr. Duryea's Oration, the exercises on the 
Campus were ended. The procession was re-formed, and proceed- 
ing to the grounds of Mayor Conover, on Bayard avenue, the 
Military and invited guests sat down to a collation, at tables capa- 
ble of accommodating over one thousand persons, under the large 



17 

tent of the New Jersey Agricultural Society, which had been pro- 
cured for the purpose. About twelve hundred partook. Here 
Governor Bedle presided, assisted by Dr. Cameron and Hon- 
George O. Vanderbilt. 

After the removal of the cloth, a series of toasts was offered. The 
following are those toasts, together with an outline of the responses 
made : 

I. The United States. 

This was to have been responded to by President Grant. Not 
being able to be present, he caused to be sent the following letter 
which was read by Prof. Cameron : 

Executive Mansion, Washington, June, 1876.. 
Dear Sir : — The President directs me to acknowledge the receipt of 
your kind note of the 22d inst., and to express his sincere thanks for the 
invitation to attend the Centennial Celebration in Princeton on the 27th 
inst. He desires me to assure you that it would afford him great plea- 
sure to accept this invitation so cordially extended, but his engage- 
ments will not permit him to be absent from the Capital at that date. 
I am, very respectfully, yours, 

U. S. Grant, Jr., 

Private Secretary. 

After the reading of this letter. Prof. Cameron made the follow, 
ing remarks : 

President Grant is a man of deeds rather than of v/ords. We 
rejoice that he, who in the hour of danger saved our country, is 
now its President. No man is perfect. But better a diamond with 
a flaw, than a perfect pebble. The men who led our country through 
its perils are now receding from our view. And to-day they remind 
us of a story of Ancient Greece. A statue was needed for a particular 
place. Two were produced. One was a thing of perfect beauty ; the 
other was rude of outline and even had faults. The first was accepted 
and placed on the pedestal. But when raised to its position its beauty 
and even its outline disappeared. It was removed and the second 
was set up. As it receded its rudeness disappeared and it stood 
forth in all its grandeur. Then there was a shout of admiration 
for the second statue. And this is what we now see of the men 
of the past. Lincoln and Grant, prepared by the hand of God for 
their elevated positions, stand upon a platform but a little lower 
than that of Washington. Beside the Father of his country are, 
under God, its Saviour and its Defender. 

2 



2. The State of New Jersey. 

To this, Governor Bedle responded, and most happily. It could 
not but be, he said, but that the State of New Jersey should be repre- 
sented here to-day. The Legislature had ordered, at its last session, 
that some of the National Guard should be sent here to aid in this 
commemoration. It was fitting that, at this centre of learning, the 
place where so many of the men of the country of intelligence and 
patriotism were reared, should be this demonstration. It had been 
the home of Witherspoon, that man of piety, learning and patriotism. 
Here, in 1775, the Committee of Safety sat, and often afterwards. 
Here the first Legislature, under the first Constitution of the State, 
convened. Here the first Governor under this constitution was, by 
joint ballot of that Legislature, elected. Here, in 1783, driven 
hither by a riot, the Congress of the United States assembled. 
Here was one of the battles of the Revolution. It, and that of 
Trenton, were pivots of that trying period. Washington was flee- 
ing from New York. The time was a perilous one. Enlistments 
were running out. The people were growing weak. But at Trenton 
the Hessians were vanquished, and the British subdued. Here the 
tide of victory was turned ; and cheer in the hearts of the Americans 
ensued. The foe was gathering detachments. But while they were 
at Trenton, Washington appeared at Princeton, routed them and 
saved both places. The State would have been derelict to its duty 
had it not aided in this celebration. The Constitution under which 
we lived until 1844 was formed at that time. The exact date was 
July 2nd, 1776. The President of this college helped to form it. 
The new Constitution of to day is no improvement over that old one. 
Not even that much better, said the Governor, snapping his finger 
and thumb, and bringing down his arm with an emphatic gesture. 
The Governors under the old Constitution were Livingston, Pater- 
son, Howell, Bloomfield, Ogden, W. S. Pennington, Mahlon Dick- 
erson, Williamson, Vroom, Southard, Seeley, Philemon Dickerson, 
William Pennington and Haines. Whether they were better or not 
than the Governors under the new Constitution, I will not say, 
since so many of the latter are around me. Let us then aim to 
derive some benefit from this celebration. Let us learn to discour- 
age men who are hungry after office. It is a law, on our statute 
book to-day, that if a man will not accept the office to which he has 
been elected he shall be indicted. There has been no case lately, I 



19 

believe, of indictment under this law. Men nowadays are too anx- 
ious for office. We want no skim-milk patriots such as these. But 
I must break off somewhere. I thank you for your attention. 

3. The Legislature of New Jersey. 

Senator and President W. J. Sewell first responded to this toast. 
He had had an experience of four years in the Legislature. It had, 
he believed, reflected public sentiment — done all required of it by 
the people. If it was not as good as it might be, it was because of 
the people who elected them. 

Senator W. J. Magie followed. He returned thanks for the reso- 
lution ; spoke of the fitness of having this celebration ; was proud 
of New Jersey as one of the old thirteen, proud of its historic fields 
and heroic deeds, its legends and traditions. Here, where is a great 
seat of learning, which was scarred and marked by the foe ; here, 
where the Provincial Congress one hundred years ago to-day was 
sitting; here, where August 27, 1776, the Legislature of the State 
first met, of whom we are the successors, it is fitting we should be 
to-day. The part New Jersey took in bringing about the intimate 
union of the States enjoyed by us to-day, the provision made in the 
constitution of the State, and continuing therein till 1844, for recon- 
ciliation with Great Britain, and the adoption of that instrument, 
were points the Senator dwelt upon, closing with expressions of 
strong hope for the century to come. 

Senator John Hill followed. He spoke of loyalty to country, of 
religion and of education, of their maintenance, of the evidences of 
these in Princeton, of the freedom we enjoy. He then alluded to 
our past history as a State, spoke of the first Governor as re-elected 
fourteen successive years, of some, to us curious, things contained in 
the old Constitution, as ;^i,ooo being required in the early times 
to make a man eligible to the Senate, ^500 to the Assembly, ;;^5o 
proclamation money to enjoy the right of suffrage. He rejoiced 
that to-day any man honest, capable and of good common sense, 
could enjoy these privileges. He spoke of a fine being imposed in 
the olden time for intoxication, profane swearing, violating the Sab- 
bath, and telling a lie, and wanted to know what would be manifest, 
if these fines were now imposed. He counselled the coming genera- 
tion to "be honest and try to do right," spoke of the value of a good 
name, and alluded to the fact that the soldiers of the Revolution often 
went without stockings; while after our late war, 2,500,000 overcoats 
were in possession of the government. 



4- Officers and Soldiers of the Revolutionary Army. 

This was responded to by Judge L. Q. C. Elmer. He represented 
the Jersey line of officers. His father was the last of the officers of 
the Revolution. The Society of the Cincinnati now represented 
these. The general Society was founded on the Hudson, before the 
camp broke up. The New Jersey Society was formed at Elizabeth, 
in 1783. One month's pay was contributed to sustain it. This 
amounted to $8,000. The money is used for expenses and benevo- 
lence. They have a fund now of $16,000. Originally there were 
one hundred officers and twelve societies. Now there are only six 
societies, one in each of the following States : Massachusetts, New 
York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland and South Carolina. 
The order is hereditary. The general Society meets every third 
year. Hamilton Fish is President. The New Jersey Society meets 
on the Fourth of July. New Jersey had thirty-three members. 
There are only five sons of officers left. These are Messrs. Beatty, 
Halsey, Cumming, myself, and one other. There are twelve grand- 
sons, five great-grandsons, two great-great-grandsons, four nephews, 
and four grand-nephews. The Jersey officers, at the beginning of 
the war, went northward, to Quebec. They were afterwards at 
Brandywine, Germantown, Trenton and Monmouth. None were 
at Princeton. From these men the early Governors were drawn — 
Livingston, Paterson, Howell, Bloomfield, Pennington. The prin- 
ciples of the Society are an inviolable preservation of our rights and 
liberties, the promotion and cherishing of union and honor between 
the States, and affection between officers. 

5. The Constitution of '76. 

This was responded to by ex-Governor Daniel Haines, the last 
Governor under it. The toast and these scenes, said he, arouse my 
feelings. The old constitution was a good one. Good people 
formed it. It had some peculiarities, as noted by Senator Hill ; 
but the people gave them a liberal interpretation. He closed by 
alluding to the amendment, which he had secured, that the Chan- 
cellorship should be separate from the office of Governor. 

6. The Battle of Monmouth. 

To this toast ex-Governor Joel Parker made response. He would, 
he said, confine himself to the toast. The battle of Princeton gave 
encouragement to the army. But it was only the beginning of the 
end. The battle of Monmouth, June 28th, 1778, gave the more 



decisive blow. There were more troops in it than in any other 
battle of the Revolution. They amounted to 20,000. In 1777-8, 
Washington had been at Valley Forge, without food or clothing for 
his army. The enemy was living in luxury in Philadelphia. May 
8th, '7^, news arrived that France had acknowledged our independ- 
ence, and signed a treaty of amity, and was about to send out a 
fleet to blockade the Delaware, and capture Lord Howe. On the 
1 8th of June the British evacuated Philadelphia, passed over to 
Gloucester Point, and made their way to Haddonfield and Mount 
Holly. Then they divided into two bands, under Cornwallis and 
Knyphausen, and were making their way to their ships at Sandy Hook. 
At Englishtown, Washington determined to attack them ; though 
his generals had advised against it. Lee, an Englishman by birth, 
was appointed to attack their rear. He was repulsed, but did not 
immediately inform Washington. Then Washington displayed his 
unparalleled generalship. He stopped the retreat, reformed the 
army, repulsed the British and achieved a victory. The British 
decamped at midnight, taking advantage, as they alleged to the 
home government, of the moonlight ; though the moon that night 
set at 10 o'clock. Trumbull, in -his McFingal, has immortalized 
this retreat in a piece which Governor Parker read. In this battle 
Molly Pitcher seized the ramrod of her fallen husband, and took 
his place. Women were forward in the contest. Lafayette, the 
youngest major-general in history, being only 20 years of age, was 
there. Lee had said to him, when the Frenchman wanted to fight — 
" You can do nothing with these British." To which Lafayette 
replied, " We have whipped them once and can do it again." 
Nathaniel Greene, the Quaker general, and Wayne, the hero of 
Stony Point, and Morgan, hero of Cowpens, a Jerseyman and noted 
rifleman, were there. But what do we see now ? We see England 
at our great Exposition. -She has made it international. For it is 
hardly likely that the other nations would have come here had not 
she taken the lead. This is an era of peace. The World, and the 
North and the South of our own country, after the late devastating 
war, are to-day meeting together in amity. 

7. The College of New Jersey. 

Rev. Dr. James McCosh responded. With pride, they had, that 
day, lent them the college grounds. You have seen what now is. 
One hundred years ago how different ! Soldiers in war were here 



then. In the library was a painting by Peale of Washington, the 
finest in existence, which had been placed in the frame in which 
George II. was hung, whose picture had, in the battle of Princeton, 
been pierced with a bullet. Those were days of valorous men. 
The students of Princeton took part in the Revolution. They were 
so eager, that Witherspoon had to restrain them. Princeton is a 
good place where to receive an education; for the spirit of '76 is 
here. He closed by alluding to the Puritans of New England as 
having achieved our liberties ; and New Jersey and North Carolina, 
as having through Witherspoon and the covenanting spirit, organ- 
ized the government. 

8. The New Jersey Historical Society. 

Rev. Dr. S. M. Hamill, its President, responded. Thirty-one 
years ago, he said, this society was founded in the City Hall of 
Trenton. He alluded to the noted men who had sustained it, and 
to the mass of historic matter which they had now gathered in 
Newark. A fire proof building, he said was much needed, and he 
hoped some man of wealth would be forthcoming to give them one. 

9. The National Guard of New Jersey. 

Gen. J. Augustus Fay responded. He returned thanks in behalf 
of the Guard for having been remembered. This Guard, he said, 
spoke for themselves to-day. THey had met on the province line, 
a regiment from East Jersey and one from West Jersey. They had 
been glad to participate in these ceremonies. He was glad to find 
that ex-Speaker Vanderbilt had, to-day, recognized the National 
Guard as a good organization. They were a company of volun- 
teers, affording a rallying point, in times of danger. He closed by 
returning thanks to the government and the people, who had taken 
in them so much interest. 

10. Princeton and its Battle-Field. 

This was responded to by Hon. J F. Hageman. He alluded to 
the central position of Princeton in the State. Lying in Somerset 
and Middlesex counties, according to the division of that day, with 
Burlington and Hunterdon coming quite near it, it was a local point 
of conference among the leading men of those counties a century 
ago. 

Princeton was influential before the Revolution, by reason of the 
College established here. Such an institution would give celebrity 



23 

to any country town. When the war broke out, this College, like 
all other colleges, was found espousing the cause of liberty. But 
not only the College, with its noble President, Dr. Witherspoon, 
gave earnest support to the Revolution in Princeton. There was a 
cluster of distinguished men resident in Princeton at and before the 
Revolution, whose names should not be forgotten on this grand 
occasion ; w hose services were linked with the heroic history of that 
period. They were such men as Richard Stockton, Jonathan Dick- 
inson Sergeant, Jonathan Baldwin, Enos Kelsey, Dr. Bainbridge, 
Dr. Beatty, Mr. Churchill Houston, James Witherspoon, son of the 
President — all graduates of Nassau Hall ; and intimately associated 
with these men, Frederick Frelinghuysen and William Paterson, also 
graduates, who lived in Somerset, and mingled with Princeton men. 
There were others, too, who distinguished themselves by services in 
council or in war, among them Robert Stockton, Jonathan Sergeant, 
the elder, Jonathan Dean, Captain Longstreet, Captain Moore, 
Major Morford and John Johnson. 

The trio of pre-eminent patriots in Princeton at that period, were 
Dr. Witherspoon, Richard Stockton and Jonathan Dickinson Ser- 
geant. The first two were officers in the same College and mem- 
bers of the same Church, and both became signers of the Declara- 
tion, which alone would make Princeton immortal in history. 
Witherspoon is receiving his full share of honor, though nothing 
should be taken from it. But the names of Stockton and Sergeant 
should be held up to-day, to signal honor. They were both lawyers 
in Princeton, at the head of the bar in the State ; pure, noble, ele- 
gant ; of large property, and fine culture, and heroic Christians, of 
the Presbyterian School. Mr. Sergeant was a grandson of Jonathan 
Dickinson the first President of the College. 

Mr. Hageman exhibited the incipient steps in the Revolution — 
the large and controlling representation of Princeton men in the 
first conventions and Provincial Congress of New Jersey, and in the 
Continental Congress. He referred to the zeal and concurrent votes 
of Sergeant, Kelsey, Witherspoon, Frelinghuysen and Paterson — on 
the most vital questions. 

Mr. Sergeant resigned his place in the Continental Congress, in 
June, '76, that he might work up a State Constitution; he was on 
the committee for the purpose, and held the laboring oar, on that, 
as on all committees to which he was appointed. 

Mr. Hageman protested strongly against the unjust aspersions, 



24 

insinuated by both of the Gordons in their histories, against Mr. 
Sergeant, William Livingston, and others, who resigned their seats 
in Congress in '76, when Witherspoon, Stockton, Hopkins and 
others were appointed in their places. Mr. Sergeant showed more 
courage in voting for carrying New Jersey into an independent 
government, before it was known that other colonies would unite 
in the movement, than he could have shown by voting for Indepen- 
dence in the General Congress. And Mr. Livingston never knew 
what fear was. 

Mr. Hageman closed with an enumeration of the marked Revolu- 
tionary events which were connected with Princeton. 

CONCLUSION. 

Our citizens generally made a very large and costly display of 
bunting, and in the evening there was an extensive and tasteful illu- 
mination. At sunset the bells were again rung, and a salute of thirty- 
seven guns was fired. Nothing occured to mar the festivities of the 
occasion. The whole affair was creditable to the State authorities, 
our ancient town, the committees, the military, and all engaged in 
making arrangements, and in their consummation. We now look 
back to it with pleasure, and feel no shame in transmitting a record 
of it to the generations to come. Not less than from six thousand 
to eight thousand persons took part in the celebration. It was worth 
all, and more, than it cost. 



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